


Weighing Your Heart

by Lazchan



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 10:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5124044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazchan/pseuds/Lazchan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yona has a dream of the original generation...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weighing Your Heart

 

Yona wasn't surprised to find herself on the highest roof of Hiryuu Castle, staring out at the grounds. No one was on the ground below; for the first time in her life, the castle was completely empty. She wasn't worried, though—it was peaceful and quiet and she tilted her head back to look up at the clear blue of the sky.

 

"Boy, you really took your time in getting here."

 

Yona squeaked in surprise at the voice that was suddenly in her ear and she gripped the roof tiles and twisted around, trying to find the source of it. She was met by an amused, sharp-toothed grin and long green hair pulled into a long tail.

* * *

 

_Green hair? Like Jaeha. I thought only the Ryokuryuu had green hair…_

 

"It's not her fault that she didn't know. All the information wasn't presented to her, although you would think the clues would have led her to the truth sooner than this." Another voice—and another person was suddenly sitting on the other side of her, blue hair fluttering in the slight breeze.

 

"Maybe after all these years, he's finally gone senile." The green-haired man shot back, looking more amused and teasing than anything malicious in the words and the slight look of expectation led her to believe that he expected her to get the 'joke'.

 

"I… who?" she asked, brow furrowing in puzzlement. "I'm sorry, but…"

 

"Ah, she doesn't remember us," the disappointment was thick in the newest voice and she felt her cheeks flush that she could do such a thing to someone she… cared about? She could feel their presence all around her, much like her dragons. Her eyes widened at the realization and she spun around until she saw the newest addition to the rooftop gathering.

 

"… it's not that I forgot, but I don’t think I was ever properly introduced," she murmured. She was starting to get an idea and something in the back of her mind was tugging ferociously, trying to get her attention. "At least, not this time around—"

 

"Well, you realize that much at least," the Seiryuu sniffed, but it wasn't derisive. In fact—Yona saw a tear slip down. "I bet that kid didn't tell you anything at all, did he?"

 

"Zeno?" Yona laughed and ran a hand through her hair. "Zeno's … even though Zeno acted like it so much, he's not a kid." Her smile died and she fiddled with the ends of her robes. "Was it my fault that he was alone for so long?"

 

"No." Hakuryuu knelt in front of her, expression solemn. "That was what the Ouryuu did to him and it wasn't anything that you could have prevented. You did your best to take care of him while you were on this earth."

 

"Do you remember us at all, king?" Ryokuryuu asked, frowning a little. "I thought we were a little more memorable than that. You're here, at least—so something's gotta be rattling around in that head of yours."

 

"Don't be completely rude!" Seiryuu whacked Ryokuryuu in the side. "Idiot. Give her some time."

 

Yona's giggled bubbled up again. Somehow, this type of scene was so familiar, especially when Ryokuryuu whacked Seiryuu back, nearly knocking him off balance. "You were the one that was saying she was being slow about it!" he protested.

 

"Shuten, it's fine," she said, then covered her mouth with her hand. "Wait… wait… wait, I do know you."

 

"Ah! I got remembered first," Shuten's grin was wider than ever and he wrapped an arm around her. "I must say, you're pretty damn adorable as a girl."

 

"I don't exactly remember really being Hiryuu," Yona made a face, turning to the others. "Zeno said it was true, and I guess he would know—but you guys—Abi…. Guen… you're certain, too?"

 

"We wouldn't be here if you weren't our King," Guen pointed out reasonably. "None of the dragons that came after us would feel that pull, either." He patted her shoulder awkwardly with his human hand.  "Zeno must've been thrilled to find you again." His voice was oddly quiet and his expression wistful.

 

She tilted her head at his expression and turned to Abi, who was hastily wiping away a tear. "What?" he snapped. "You meant the world to us and with our lives tied to you, of course we would have missed you. Zeno is lucky to have you again in his life."

 

Yona went to her knees so that she could hug Abi easily. "I'm sorry that I left you all so early," she whispered. She didn't really remember so much; she was going off of feelings and that story that she had read as a child. The dragons had been heartbroken to lose Hiryuu…

 

_Maybe that's all this dream is, really. A combination of the story and Zeno telling me that he believed I was Hiryuu. Dreams can be silly that way; I even made up names for the original generation of dragons that served Hiryuu._

"I don't think she believes us, really—" Guen shook his head. "I promise you," his voice was fierce and he gripped her hand in his. "We really were the ones that served Hiryuu—you." He met her eyes and she couldn’t help but compare out different Guen was from Kija. "Please believe us." Maybe also not so different from K

"Why don’t you all try and tell me what I forgot?" she suggested instead, smiling brightly at all of them.

 

~

 

Zeno peeked into the tent when he heard Yona murmuring in her sleep, twisting from side to side. His breath caught sharply in his chest when he heard what she was saying and he crept closer to her, wanting to hear it again, wanting to make sure that he hadn't gone insane.

 

"Abi, Guen… Shuten." Yona's voice was clear and she was reaching out a hand as if grasping onto something. He swallowed hard and sat down next to her, not caring if the others came in and scolded him; he wanted to be closer to her and just hear the names he hadn't heard anyone say in thousands of years. He curled his hand in hers and rested his head against her shoulder, closing his eyes. For a moment, he felt like he was back home again.

 

~

 

"I'm surprised that you haven't asked Zeno," Guen commented, hands braced against the roof. "He'd know the best of anyone—"

 

"I didn't want to ask him," she made a face. "First off—I still don't really believe all this is real." She gave him a half-smile. "When Ik-su first told me about the dragons and Hiryuu, I thought they were all a legend, until I met my own dragons and figured out that everyone was real…but to relate it to myself seemed ridiculous" She tugged on a strand of unruly hair. "I don't exactly look like someone that legendary creatures would want to protect."

 

Guen shook his head. "It doesn't matter what you look like," he said firmly. "Look at all of us, even Zeno—who finally decided to show up." He gestured to the side and Yona blinked and her smile grew even wider as she stood up, not even hesitating in her uncertainty to hug Zeno tightly. He was looking around in bewildered astonishment, expression almost heartsick.

 

Abi pushed his hair behind his back. "Late as always, Zeno." His smile was trembling at the edges and there was those tears again and Yona found herself squished between the four of them. She wasn't sure if they were trying to hug her or each other and she decided it was the latter and she squirmed out of the way so that the brothers could hold onto one another.

 

This may be just a dream, but it was a dream where Zeno was with his family again. Even if it was just made up in her head… she made a face. She wasn't making sense to herself.

 

Zeno  was clinging to all of them tightly, afraid if they'd vanish like smoke before his eyes. He finally turned his head enough to look at Yona in astonishment. "How?" he breathed. "How did you do it, Miss?"

 

"Miss?" Shuten snickered and leaned back, a wide grin on his face as he looked down at Zeno. "And here I thought you were the more respectful one, brat. You call our king, 'Miss?'"

 

Zeno's cheeks turned red and Yona intervened. "Zeno has his reasons," she insisted.  _We never questioned him never using any of our names, even before we knew that he was the original Ouryuu._ "I didn't…  I mean—I was just some silly girl that he met—"

 

Abi's gave her a disbelieving look. "Even if you didn't know or didn't believe who you were, Zeno certainly knew. Miss is hardly a fitting term to call his Master."

 

Yona shook her head at that, resting a hand on Abi's shoulder. "I was never his master," she said gently. "I never thought of myself as such and doubly so now, I am not. Zeno served and loved Hiryuu implicitly." She met Zeno's eyes. "I understand—even after so long, he cared for Hiryuu and his original brothers."

 

"I'm telling you, it doesn't matter what you look like," Guen said firmly. "Hell, I don't know this cute girl version of you at all, but the ties that were made to you—we can still feel them, or else we wouldn't be here at all."

 

"Dreams don't have to make sense," Yona said crossly. "I—"

 

Zeno tugged her away for a moment, holding onto both of her hands firmly. "Trust Zeno, Miss—even if you think that this is only a dream. The Miss and Zeno can talk tomorrow about this when the Miss wakes up. This isn't a normal dream and Guen and Shuten and Abi are Zeno's original brothers."

 

She wrinkled her nose, dreams could make anything make sense, but—she bit her lip. She never dreamed all that much and those dreams she had were never normal and always seemed to tell of something important, a warning or a message—something almost real.

 

The others were listening as well, nodding along with Zeno. "The Miss is Zeno's master, just like she is the master of Ryokuryuu and Hakuryuu and Seiryuu. They all love and care for the Miss, just like Zeno and his brothers cared for Hiryuu."

 

"But you cared for Hiryuu, were connected to Hiryuu," she said gently, running a hand through his hair,  a sad smile on her face. "I can't be Hiryuu; I'm not anything special like he was, I can't measure up to the king that you loved."

 

"You are already special to me, Miss," Zeno hugged her tightly. "Zeno would do anything to protect the Miss. The Miss is herself, but is also the king Zeno served, no matter what the Miss believes." His grip was so tight. "The Miss brought Zeno's brothers to him again, so that Zeno could apologize for being so scared before. Zeno wouldn't be able to sneak into the Miss's dreams like this if he wasn't her dragon."

 

Guen, Abi, and Shuten all nodded in unison. "Miss.." Shuten shook his head, as if he still couldn't believe Zeno was the one being the most casual. Even Shuten had still called Hiryuu his king, even if he called him senile along with it. "Even if Zeno is treating you like this, the brat is right. We wouldn't be able to meet you here like this if you weren't once Hiryuu."

 

"Zeno is hardly a brat anymore," Zeno made a face. "Zeno has been alive for a long, long time!"

 

"Yes, and didn't see fit to tell us the truth of your power at all," Abi gave him a disapproving look. "Not that we didn't figure it out when you stayed the same after we aged, but really, Zeno—you should have said something to us. Didn't you trust us?"

 

Zeno's cheeks turned red. "I was still figuring out it myself. I… asked Hiryuu, but…" his gaze slid sideways to Yona, who looked ashamed.

 

"Hiryuu never told you, did he?" she asked softly. "Zeno… I…"

 

"Miss!" He clasped her hands in his. "It wasn't the Miss, it was Hiryuu and it was a long, long time ago for Zeno! Zeno had figured it out, he just wanted to have Hiryuu tell him, that's all. But it's fine, Miss—don't look so sad for something that isn't the fault of the Miss."

 

"Either I'm Hiryuu and I should apologize for my faults, or I'm not Hiryuu and I shouldn't worry," Yona's expression turned firm. "It's one or the other, Zeno. I can't hide away from the mistakes I made before, it's shameful to pretend they didn't happen, the amount of years between the mistake and now doesn't make a difference."

 

Shuten grinned widely at her words. "Now that sounds like our King," he said approvingly. "Glad to see the years in between hadn't made you completely senile.

 

"Or soft," Guen muttered, looking her over, a speculative expression on his face. "You fight still, don't you?"

 

Yona nodded and Zeno rolled his eyes. "The Miss gets into all sorts of trouble, trying to protect people." He gave her a proud smile, though. "Zeno only had to protect her a few times, because the Miss is really strong."

 

Yona gave Zeno a curious look. "Zeno… can you—for this dream, at least—use all of our names?" she asked softly. "I… if you wanted, you could even call me Hiryuu, if that would make you happier. You…you have Guen and Abi and Shuten here."

 

Zeno was suddenly the focus of attention and his cheeks flamed. "I…." he struggled with the words. "I haven't…. not for a long time," he said softly. "No one remembered their names and it was too hard to keep on saying them, because it was too lonely. No one remembered my name, either. It was only Ouryuu."

 

Guen rested a hand on Zeno's shoulder, not saying anything. They had lived their lives and had their descendents take on the mantle of the dragon blood to protect their King and what he had stood for. "But you have people now, brat," he said firmly. "Don't keep on thinking on us and have that drag you down. You should at least call your brother's by their names, every once in awhile." He frowned down at Zeno. "And our Master, you should call her by her name."

 

Yona waved that way. "That's not important; Zeno does what he's most comfortable with."  _He's afraid we'll leave him, too—and I can't make any promises that we won't. Hiryuu couldn't and he was closer to being a dragon than I am._  "We were talking about the disservice I did to Zeno."

 

"Yona." Her head jerked up at the sound of her name. "It's fine," Zeno reassured her. "I promise you—it was a long, long time ago and you're apologizing now and I know… you mean it sincerely." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "You are the one I follow, Yona; there is no one else."

 

Abi gave him a warm smile and reached out to grab Yona and Zeno at the same time. "I'm glad that you're here for our King when we cannot be, Zeno," he said firmly. "Now, have more confidence in yourself as a dragon than you did with us and you will never fail our king."

 

Shuten and Guen draped themselves on either side of Yona and Zeno. "Now that you know,  _Miss_ ," Shuten's grin was too wide and Abi smacked him in the side, "you should know you can reach us again. Make sure you take the brat with you. We… " he cleared his throat. "We miss the both of you."

 

Yona's expression softened and she held onto all of them. These, save Zeno, were not the dragons that she loved and knew so well, but some part of her…

 

"My cute little dragons," she laughed and squeezed their hands, smiling up at them.

 

~

 

Zeno woke up slowly, brushing away the sticky tears from the dream he had shared with Yona. He had his brothers for a short time—he had been scolded and teased by them like before and… somehow, Yona had bridged the gap to make it happen.

 

She was curled even tighter around him in her sleep, one hand tangled in his hair and the other clutching his robes. "Zeno…" she murmured, rubbing her face against his chest, causing his face to flare with color. Being around his master already comforted and warmed, but being this close to Yona as herself, combined with the possessive nature of the dragon's blood, was overwhelming.

 

He should wake her up, but he wanted to keep this moment to himself for a moment, but he also didn't want to have anyone peering in and making a fuss and asking questions. He stroked a hand down her cheek. "The Miss is much cuter than Hiryuu," he murmured in her ear. "Zeno didn't know …" he took a deep breath. "Zeno didn't know that the Miss was so scared and uncertain of his loyalty. Zeno thought the Miss always knew that we were your dragons, Hiryuu or no."

 

Yona stirred and opened her eyes, meeting his and she flushed a little, sitting up in the circle of his arms. "When I was a little girl, my father used to read me the stories of Hiryuu and the dragons. When Ik-su said they were real and to seek them out—I was selfish enough to think 'oh, this is a good idea. They are the descendents of legendary warriors, sure they will follow me to protect the kingdom.'" She was silent a moment and Zeno let her have her moment. "When I met Kija…it was so odd. He was so adamant that I was his master, but I didn't believe it. With Shin-ah—I was started to see a little more. With Jae-ha," she closed her eyes. "I knew he was Ryokuryuu right away. I didn't want him to be away from me—it was then I realized that was how I felt about all of them—all of  _you._ "

 

"And the Miss still didn't realize?" he asked, looking concerned at how stubborn she had been over it. "Mi… Yona…"

 

Her breath caught at hearing her name, but she still wrinkled her nose at him. "It was selfish of me, I thought. How arrogant of me to think of the dragons actually being mine. I didn't want to force anyone to stay by me like I had with Hak. That was why I didn't push with Jaeha; he was absolutely right to make his own choices, but I was so very happy when he came with us." She squeezed his hand gently and her smile was wide and happy. "Then you walked into the camp and everything seemed… right. It was like Kija," she laughed, remembering his tears of happiness. "Everyone was together and even then—I was happy that the dragons all had each other again—but… I didn't think about everyone being mine."

 

"The Miss felt all of us," Zeno said seriously, falling back to his old habits easily. "She knew that Zeno was Ouryuu implicitly, there was no doubt in the Miss's mind. Zeno was happy, happy, The Miss didn't want to use the dragons and she wanted to care for all of us and the people in the kingdom." He kept his eyes on her, making sure she understood without a doubt that she was Hiryuu and the miracle she had performed with her dream. "You were able to talk to the original dragons, Yona."

 

Her eyes widened and he gripped her wrists to keep her eyes on him. "The dream that the Miss had was a true dream. The Miss said their names and met with them; Zeno shared the dream and Zeno…" he blinked away tears. "Zeno got to meet his first brothers again."

 

"But not Hiryuu…" she started to say, but he shook his head. She always doubted the fact that she could be Hiryuu, their king and the one that was once a dragon and a god. It was the only area she truly doubted herself; she fought so fiercely in everything else to become stronger.

 

"Hiryuu was there because you were there, Yona. Zeno didn't need to see the old form of his king when she was standing there in front of Zeno then and now."

 

She looked down. "If I had tried harder or believed more, you might have been able to see the king that you loved, Zeno. The…the others, too—" she bit her lip, trying to piece together the words before she said them. "It really was real?" she asked. "They were… they were the ones that served King Hiryuu directly, like you did?"

 

Zeno's smile was gently and he released one of her wrists to stroke through her hair, trying to calm the sudden trembling. "Yes, it was very real. The Miss was able to see Guen and Abi and Shuten." It wasn't as hard to say their names as he thought it would be and it was far easier than using hers still. "What did the Miss think of her original dragons?" He kept the hand in her hair, but his grin was all teasing now, a lot of the seriousness tamped down.

 

She had to laugh, relaxing more herself. "I… they felt familiar, even if I couldn't explain it fully." She chewed on her lip. "I knew their names without remembering them or them telling me. The way they… they teased each other, it was like a familiar memory in the back of my mind."

 

"They were always bickering at the beginning," Zeno gave a nostalgic sigh. "Hiryuu used to tease us about being his cute little dragons—"

 

Yona covered her mouth with her hand; she had used that exact phrasing before the world had gone fuzzy and muted and she had woken up tangled in Zeno's arms.

 

"Yep, just like the Miss did!" Zeno laughed and pulled her into a hug. "They were happy to see you and Zeno was happy to see you with them and to have them again by his side." He looked wistful and he leaned into her, pressing his face to her hair and only she was there to see him tremble. "Zeno wants to do it again someday."

 

"I…" Yona flushed and nodded a little. "If I can do it, Zeno—you always have to be there, too. It wouldn't be the same without you." She privately wondered what it would be like with all her dragons there; the past guardians meeting the current ones and Zeno in-between.

 

He kept his arm around her until the sounds outside the tent became too distracting. He pulled away with a bright grin and held out his hand to her as he stood up. "Then next time, Miss—we'll talk more about what we were like, so you don't have the silly stories that Zeno wrote to go on."

 

"…your stories?" She followed him outside the tent, disbelieving and astonished all at the same time, but he had already darted away in search of Yun and breakfast. He would tell her everything eventually, bit by bit. Even if it was only in dreams.


End file.
